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OF 

ing  Historical!  Geologica 


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I  am  neither  poet,  novelist,  nor  historian . 
1  never,  indeed,  experienced  even  the  faintest 
tinge  of  an  anxiety  to  be  possessed  of  the  di- 
vine afflatus,  until  recently  I  saw  it  an- 
nounced, though  on  no  better  authority  than 
that  of  a  vagrant  newspaper  paragraph,  that 
a  poet  turns  everything  he  touches  into  gold. 
I  need  gold,  as  most  all  mortals  do,  and 
though  subsequent  reflection  has  convinced 
me  that  that  which  comes  from  the  crucible 
of  the  Pegassi  is  of  the  sort  that  feeds  the  soul, 
rather  than  ministers  to  the  vulgar  senses,  I 
must  confess  that  I  was  at  first  strongly  tem- 
pted to  wish  myself  a  genius  at  versification. 
The  thought  that  the  capacity  of  imagining 
exciting  incident  and  situation  and  clothing 
them  in  a  garb  of  verbiage  attractive  to  the 
love  lorn  or  the  hero  worshiping,  .or  of  ferret? 
ing  outpreviouslyundiscovered  historical  facts 
and  links,  and  giving  them  pleasing  recital, 
might  possibly  be  useful  to  me,  or,  in  me,  to 
others,  never  once  entered  this  empty  cranium 
of  mine,  until  I  unexpectedly  found  my  name 
in  the  list  of  promised  contributors  to  a  holi- 
day edition  of  a  popular  journal.  Thus  an- 
nounced and  thus  deficient,  I  was  in  a  most 
perplexing  dilemma.  What  to  write  I  knew 
not.  1  dared  not  venture  into  the,  to  me, 
stranger-realms  of  poesy,  or  fiction,  or  his- 
tory; and  what  was  there  left?  I  pondered, 
wishing  to  be  obliging  at  this  glad  season, 
and  pondered  seriously.  Finally  I  bethought 
me  that  our  local  writers  have,  rather  unac- 
countably, left  practically  unexplored  a  most 
inviting  field  of  local  enquiry  and  examina- 
tion, and  that  by  making  some  amends  for 
their  remissness  in  this  regard,  I  might  ac- 
quit myself  of  a  most  useful  and  interesting 
paper,  and  that,  too,  without  transcending 
the  modest  role  of  the  reporter. 

The  Wyoming  Historical  and  Geological 
Society  of  Wilkes-Barre",  its  history,  its  valu- 
able collections  of  books,  manuscripts,  miner- 
aloaical  and  other  specimens,  and  relics  of 
by-gone  times  appropriate  to  its  purposes, 
provide  the  neglected  topic  to  which  1  have 
reference;  and  if,  in  treating  it,  I  shall  suc- 
ceed in  awakening  an  increased  interest  in 


its  affair's,  I  feel  that  I  shall  have  accom- 
plished a  good  turn  for,  given  a  suitable  and 
valuable  holiday  present  to,  the  society,  the 
reader  and  the  community  generally. 

The  Wyoming  Historical  Society  (it  did  not 
become  specifically  geological  until  later  on,) 
had  its  origin  in  a  meeting  of  gentlemen,  held 
February  11th,  1858,  at  the  "Old  Fell 
Tavern,"  in  this  city. 

The  immediate  purpose  of  the  gathering 
was  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary 
of  what  was  then  supposed  and  genejaily  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  first  successful  ^burning  oii 
Anthracite  coal  in  an  open  grate,  the  achieve- 
ment of  Judge  Jesse  Fell,  .in  the  xexy dnviru 
in  which  the  meeting  was  held.  "Anth-iasrie 
had  previously  been  used  mainly  in  black- 
smiths' furnaces,  and  was  already  in  active 
demand  for  that  purpose.  Lately,  letters  and 
documents  have  been  resurrected, which  seem 
to  show  that  others  had  burned  it  in  grates 
before  Judge  Fell  did.  Nevertheless  the  dis- 
covery was  original  with  him.  though  he  may 
not  have  been  the  first  to  make  it,  while  it  is 
quite  certain  that  the  news  of  the  success  of 
his  experiment  was  the  first  to  reach  the  ears 
of  the  great  public  and  did  more,  therefore, 
than  all  his  pre  ^cessors  had  accomplished,  to- 
wards securing  for  our  great  staple  a  foot- 
hold in  the  markets  of  the  country  as  ado 
mestic  fuel.  It  was  for  that  reason  eminent- 
ly fitting  that  the  event  should  be  celebrated 
here  where  so  much  is  owing  to  the  discovery, 
and  fitting  also  that  in  that  celebration  an  in 
stitution  designed  to  preserve  to  future  gen- 
erations the  records  of  all  events  interesting 
in  the  history  of  the  valley,  should  have  had 
its  birth. 

Captain  James  P.  Dennis,  a  grandson  of 
Judge  Fell,  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and^Wm.  P.  Miner,  the  son  of  the  historian, 
was  chosen  secretary.  To  Gen.  E  L.  Dana 
was  assigned  the  duty  of  explaining  the  pur- 
poses of  the  meeting,  which  he  did  with  the 
grace  and  eloquence  natural  to  him.  But  the 
General  did  more,  for  he  it  was  who  suggest- 
ed, there  and  then,  the  formation  of  the  His- 
torical S  iciety.     The  suggestion  met  with  the 


instant  hearty  endorsement  of  all  present, 
whereupon  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
draft  appropriate  resolutions.  The  committee 
consisted  of  Gen  E.  L.  Dana,  Judge  Wood- 
ward, Henry  M.  Hoyt,  Byron  Nicholson. 
Caleb  E.  Wright,  W.  H.  Beaumont  and  Col. 
Samuel  Bowman.  After  a  brief  recess  they 
reported  a  preamble  in  which  it  was  declared 
to  be  a  duty  owing  to  those  yet  to  come  "to 
preserve  and  to  transmit"  to  them  "recollec- 
tions of  important  events,  of  discoveries  and 
discoverers  in  science  and  the  useful  arts,"  and 
resolutions  reciting  the  fact  that  there  were 
many  "memorials,  papers  and  records"  of 
great  historical  value  held  by  pri- 
vate families  aud  individuals  in  the 
valley,  which  were  liable  to  be  mislaid 
or  destroyed  if  not  more  zealously  looked 
after,  and  declaring  the  feasibility  and  advisa- 
bility of  the  organization  of  a  society  to  collect 
and  preserve  them-  The  resolutions  were 
adopted  unanimously  and  a  committee  of  five 
was  appointed  to  draft  a  Constitution  and 
By-Laws  for  tha  government  of  the  society. 

•.This  cX»m*rfiil^ct!consisted  of  Gen.   Dana,  Dr. 

_J)ennisVCil4b»E.«  Wright.   John  B  Conyng- 

*  ham  and  Wm.,  P.  Mi*n\r. 

I  ;"AffeVreHiarfcs,*,uy,  John   Howarth   on   the 

locals  <ff  Walffi;  Gen.  "Winchester  on  our  own 
carboniferous  formations,  and  others  on  other 
topics,  the  meeting  adjourned. 

The  constitution  committee's  report  was 
submitted  at  the  next  meeting,  held  March 
11th,  and  was  adopted,  with  but  few  amend- 
ments. This  meeting  was  also  held  at  the 
"Old  Fell  House." 

The  next  subsequent  meetimr  was  convened 
at  what  was  known  as  Institute  Hall,  on  the 
16th  of  the  same  month,  and  the  following 
gentlemen  were  elected  members: 

Hon.  Chas.  Miner,  G.  M.  Hollenback.  Wm. 
S.  Ross,  Lord  Butler,  John  N.  Conyugham, 
John  L.  Butler,  Major  A.  Hamilton  Bowman, 
Sharp  D.  Lewis,  Chas.  B.  Drake,  V.  L. 
Maxwell,  Ziba  Bennett,  Chas.  Bennett.  Chas. 
Denison,  C.  D.  Shoemaker,  Rev.  R.  Nelson, 
Sumuel  Hoyt,  Jno  Bennett,  Rev  Thos.  P, 
Hunt,  Rev.  Jno.  Dorrance,  Rev.  Geo.  D. 
Miles,  Wm.  C.  Reynolds,  Henderson  Gavlord, 
Alexander  Grav,  Thos  F.  Atherton,  H.  S. 
Butler,  Geo.  W".  Scranton,  Samuel  G  Tur- 
ner, Thos.  Oldershaw,  A.  C.  Laning,  W.  H. 
Alexander,  J  J.  Slocum.  Dr.  Wm  Brisbin, 
W.  W.  Keicham,  Chas.  A.  Lane,  Hiram  Den- 
ison, Dr.  Thomas  W.  Miner,  Dr.  John  Smith, 
and  O.  B.  Hillard.  (all  of  whom  have  since 
passed)  away  into  another  world),and  I.  S. 
Osterhout,  Henry  Colt.   Steuben  Jenkins.  H. 

B.  Wright,  Chas.    Parrish,   Chas.    Dorrance, 

C.  T.  Barnum.  Calvin  Parsons,  Sylvester 
Dana,  E.  W.  Sturdevant,  A.  T,  McChutock, 


W.  G.  Sterling,  Joseph  Archbald,  Joel  Bowk- 
ley,  Lewis  Jones  jr.,  O.  C.  Gritman,  Wm. 
R.  Mafrit,  Jno.  Howarth,  Jno.  C.  Beaumont, 
Rev.  Jno  J.  Pearce, Jameson  Harvey,  Nathan- 
iel Rutter, 'Payne  Pettebone,  Theodore  Strong, 
Wm.  B.  Reading,  Chas  I.  A.  Chapman, 
Ario  Pardee,  Wm.  Tompkins,  Alfred  Law- 
ton,  W.  W.  Loomis,  Jno.  Reichard  E.  S. 
Goodrich  and  James  Clarkson. 

The  permanent  officers  of  the  society  were 
then  chosen  as  follows:  President,  E  L. 
Dana;  Vice  Presidenty Dr.  Chas.  F.  Ingham; 
corresponding  secretary,  Wm.  P.  Miner; 
Recording  secretary,  Geo.  H.  Butler;  Librar 
ian  Dr.  W.  F.  Dennis:  Recorder,  Jno.  B. 
Conyngham;  Committee  on  finance.  W. 
Lee  jr.,  J.  P.  Dennis,  Stewart  Pearce;  Com- 
mute on  Publication,  C.  E.  Wright,  S.  Wood- 
ward, C.  D.  Shoemaker;  Committee  on  Li- 
brary and  Cabinet,  H.  M.  Hoyt,  Dr.  Chas. 
F.  Ingham,  and  V.  L.  Maxwell. 

In  these  lists  of  the  founders  and  earlier 
members  of  the  Historical  Society  are  many 
names  deservedly  honored  in  law,  in  medi- 
cine, in  politics,  in  war,  in  trade,  in  almost 
every  field  of  human  usefulness,  and  which 
will,  without  doubt,  live  to  be  revered  in  the 
memories  of  the  people  of  this  valley  through 
all  the  generations  to  come.  Brought  into 
being,  and  cradled  and  nourished  by  such 
sponsors,  it. were  strange  had  the  society  not 
grown,  and  flourished,  too,  despite  the  many 
discouragements  with  which  it  has  had  to 
contend.  What  these  discouragements  have 
been  will. perhaps,  never  be  known,  excepting 
to  those  whose  shoulders  have  mainly  borne 
the  society  through  them.  How  it  has  flour- 
ished, what  it  has  achieved,  are  revealed  al- 
most every  day  to  some  one  who  comes  for 
the  first  time  to  examine  its  precious  stores, 
and  leaves  them  in  utter  astonishment  at 
having  learned  that  he  has  been  living  all 
these  years  within  a  stone's  throw  and  yet  in 
utter  ignorance  of  them  and  of  the  absorbing 
interest  and  great  value  which  attach  to  them. 

On  the  22d  day  of  April,  1858,  the  Ladies 
Monumental  Association  met  and  transferred 
the  Wyoming  monument,  and  the  surplus  of 
the  funds  collected  to  erect,  it  to  the  Histori- 
cal Society.  The  ground  on  which  the  mon- 
ument stands  was  regularly  deeded  to  the 
society,  which  is  obligated,  of  course,  to  keep 
it  in  repair.  The  money  which  came  with 
the  donation  of  the  structure  amounted  to 
something  less  than  $300.  This  money  aud 
more  has  been  exneuded  in  enclosing  the 
monument  and  beautifying  the  grounds 
about  it 

On  May  3d,  follawing,  the  society  moved 
into  the  building  on  Franklin  street,  in  which 
it  is  yet  located,  taking  a  long  room  on  the 


5 


second  floor.  This  room  it  occupied  for 
twenty  years,  despite  the  fact  that  as  early  as 
the  first  annual  meeting,  "which  was  held 
February  11,  1859,  Dr.  Dennis,  the  curator, 
reported  that  the  society's  collection  had  al- 
ready increased  to  a  size  and  importance  too 
great  to  permit  of  its  being  properly  displayed 
therein. 

An  act  of  incorporation  was  secured  on  the 
10th  of  May,  1858,  and  in  August  following 
the  society  organized  under  it,  continuing  the 
officers  as  above.  In  November  Gen.  Ross 
presented  to  the  society  what  was  known  as 
the  Chambers'  collection.  This  collection 
consisted  of  some  10,000  specimens  in  miner- 
alogy, in  coins,  and  in  Indian  and  other  curi- 
osities, gathered,  during  a  persistent  search 
of  many  years,  by  Harmon  A.  Chambers,  a 
resident  of  the  upper  end  of  the  county.  This 
collection  cost  Gen.  Ross  $2,500. 

In  1862  an  effort  was  made  to  procure  for 
the  use  of  the  society  the  old  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall,  but  it  was  unsuccessful.  Subsequently 
equally  futile  efforts  were  entered  upon  to  in- 
duce the  building  ot  a  second  story  to  the 
Laning  Row  of  offices  on  Franklin  street,  and 
then  to  secure  the  attic,  now  third  story,  of 
the  county  Court  House. 

Following  close  upon  the  heels  of  these  fail- 
ures to  procure  larger  and  more  elegible 
rooms,  certain  of  the  members  attempted  to 
brintr  about  the  practical  disbandment  of  the 
society  by  urging  a  resolution  to  donate  one- 
half  of  th  ^collection  to  the  Lehigh  Univer- 
sity, and  the  other  half  to  Lafayette  College. 
Both  these  institutions  are  understood  to  have 
been  anxious  for  the  success  of  this  move, 
but  the  local  pride  of  a  number  of  members, 
theretofore  negligent  of  the  society,  was 
aroused  by  that  possibility,  and  the  movement 
came  to  naught.  In  1870  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  donating  to  the  society  a  lot  on 
the  old  grave  yard  site,  30x108  feet,  fronting 
on  Washington  street,  and  the  city  added  70 
feet  to  the  donation,  on  the  condition  that  the 
society  should  build  within  two  years. 
Spurred  by  these  gifts,  an  earnest  effort  was 
made  the  year  following  to  raise  the  $40,000, 
which,  it  had  been  estimated,  would  be  the 
cost  of  a  suitable  structure.  The  late  Judge 
Conyngham  was  the  moving  and  active  spirit 
in  the  attempt,  and  there  is  a  general  belief 
that  the  money  would  have  been  gotten,  had 
not  the  oread  messenger,  death,  shortly  af- 
terward summoned  the  eminent  jurist  whence 
he  then  passed,  full  of  years  and  honors. 

In  1872  the  practice  of  throwing  open  the 
rooms  to  the  public  every  Friday  evening, 
which  has  continuously  obtained  eyer  since, 
was  agreed  upon.  The  disposition  was  to 
keep  them  open  every  day  and  every  night, 


but  the  society  was  not  in  funds  sufficient  to 
employ  a  fit  person  to  look  after  them  and  to 
provide  the  necessary  fuel  and  light.  The 
heart  was  willing,  but  the  purse  was  empty. 
And  here  a  remarkable  tact  comes  in  to  be 
told.  The  opening  of  the  rooms  for  the  pub- 
lic's inspection  was  liberally  advertised,  but 
the  public  came  not — that  is  the  grown-up 
public.  The  boys,  the  busy  little  fellows 
who  labor  every  day  for  a  few  pence  in  the 
coal  breakers,  preparing  themselves  there  for 
a  life  amid  the  noxious  vapors  and  beneath 
the  treacherous  roofs  of  the  mines,  on  the 
other  hand,  came  in  legions.  A.  record  kept 
shows  that  during  the  winter  of  1878-79  up- 
ward of  1200  boys,  mostly  all  coal  cracker 
gamins,  availed  themselves  of  the  society's 
gratuitous,  interesting  entertainment;  and  I 
am  assured  that  many  of  them  came  in  a 
teachable  mood  and  carried  away  with  them 
considerable  additions  to  their  several  stocks 
of  useful  knowledge.  This  manifestation  of 
desire,  on  the  part  of  our  youth,  for  a  greater 
insight  into  those  matters  which  come  within 
the  purview  of  the  Historical  Society's  pur- 
poses, is  a  promising  indication  which  it  will 
pay  all  who  can  afford  it  to  encourage  by  lib- 
eral donations  to  the  society.  The  better  edu- 
cated the  many  poor,  the  safer  the  few  rich, 
the  grander  and  nobler  the  whole  social  fab- 
ric, and  the  firmer  the  foundation  of  the 
political  structure. 

In  1878,  just  previous  to  the  Wyoming 
Centennial  celebration,  the  collections  of  the 
society  were  removed  up  stairs  in  the  same 
building,  into  the  old  Odd  Fellows'  Hall, 
where,  it  was  supposed,  there  would  be  ample 
accommodations  for  years  to  come;  but  with- 
in the  last  two  years  the  additions  have  been 
so  numerous  as  to  demand  still  more  space, 
and  another  room  on  the  second  floor  has 
been  rented  and  fitted  up  as  an  office,  meeting 
room  and  library. 

Thus  much  for  the  history  of  the  society. 
I  could  here  incorporate  many  additional  de- 
tails, and  make  the  story  much  more  com- 
plete without  giving  excuse  for  any  flagging 
ot  interest,  but  I  am  not  allotted  columns 
enough.  The  society  is  now  very  nearly  out 
of  debt  and,  generally  speaking,  in  a  condi- 
tion much  more  satisfactory  than  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  past.  The  war  hurt  i*.  A 
goodly  number  of  those  who  had  become  its 
most  assiduous  members  answered  their 
country's  call  to  arms  and  the  interest  of  the 
others  was  meanwhile  monopolized  by  the 
more  pressing  fact  of  the  unfortunate  and 
bloody  conflict. 

Within  a  few  years,  howeyer,  the  society 
has  realized  an  infusion  of  young  blood  and 
under  that  influence  has  since  gone  steadily 


and  prosperously  onward.  The  present  roll 
of  membership  is  large  and  the  officers  are  as 
follows  : 

President,  John  Wells  Hollenback;  Vice- 
Presidents,  W.  H.  Sturdevant,  Hon.  Chas. 
A.  Miner,  Dr.  E.  R.  Mayer,  Dr. J. A.  Murphy; 
Treasurer,  Sheldon  Reynolds;  Recording 
Secretary,  Harrison  Wright;  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Douglas  Smith. 

I  can  give  but  a  feeble  description  of  the 
collections  of  the  society.  To  intelligently 
and  fully  describe  them  would  require,  not  a 
column  or  two,  but  a  newspaper  or 
two.  A  mere  reference  to  some  of  the  more 
important  of  them  must  suffice  for  the  pur- 
poses of  this  article,  a  perusal  of  which,  the 
reader  is  invited  to  remember,  can  be  supple- 
mented by  a  personal  examination  of  the  col- 
lections themselves,  any  Friday  evening,  on 
which  he  is  otherwise  disengaged,  between 
7:30  and  10  o'clock. 

In  numismatics  there  is  a  collection  of 
some  7,000  coins.  These  include  a  complete 
set  of  all  the  American  pennies  and  a  nearly 
complete  set  of  all  other  American  coins. 
Then  there  are  numerous  specimens  of  the 
colonial  coinage,  Roman  coins  from  as  fur 
back  as  300  years  B.  C,  a  nearly  complete  set 
of  the  coins  of  the  Csesers  beginning  with 
those  issued  during  the  reign  of  Julius  Caeser, 
Greek  coins,  Jewish  shekels,  coins,  in  short, 
from  all  the  countries  of  the  world.  Among 
those  of  Roman  mintage  are  several  speci- 
mens that,  until  a  very  few  years  ago,  could 
not  be  duplicated  anywhere  in  Anferica,  and 
were,  therefore,  very  valuable.  Then  there 
are  quantities  of  scrip,  continental  and  con- 
federate currency,  and  other  descriptions  of 
paper  issues.  To  this  collection  additions  are 
being  constantly  made,  and  very  large  and 
exceptionally  important  contributions  are 
promised  for  the  early  future. 

The  historical  collection  and  museum  of 
antiquities  and  curiosities,  is  one  of- the  most 
attractive  and  interesting  features  of  the  accu- 
mulation. This  includes  relics  from  the 
Wyoming  Battle  field,  of  Sullivan's  famous 
march  against  the  Indians  and  nearly  every 
other  important  event  in  both  the  earlier  and 
later  history  of  the  valley. 

The  collection  of  the  society  in  what  has 
come  to  be  known  as  Egyptology  is  small  as  yet 
but  very  unique  and  of  much  worth.  It  con- 
sists in  part  of  mummied  relics,  a  wooden 
figure  said  to  be  6000  years  old,  and  a  well 
preserved  specimen  of  Egyptian  papyri,  dating 
back  4700  years,  which  is  worth  its  weight 
in  gold.  The  society  has  had  its  contents 
partially  translated.  Most  of  these  articles 
are  from  Peele's  old  Philadelphia  museum, 
where  the  good  people  of  the  Quaker  City 


were  wont  to  indulge  their  wonder  seventy  or 
eighty  years  ago. 

The  Indian  collection,  which  is  constantly 
increasing,  is  one  of  the  most  complete  and 
valuable  in  the  country.  Some  years  ago  one 
of  the  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian  Institute 
said  to  a  member  of  the  Wyoming  Society, 
to  whom  he  had  been  introduced  in  Washing- 
ton: "I  hear  that  your  society  has  a  magnifi- 
cent Indian  collection.  Could  you  not  get  it 
for  us?"  "I  am  afraid  not,"  was  the  answer. 
"We  could  have  plaster  casts  made  of 
the  articles  for  your  society,  and  they  would 
be  worth  as  much  as  the  originals,  you  know." 
"That  being  your  opinion,"  came  the  prompt 
response,  "suppose  you  have  the  plaster  casts 
made  for  yourselves." 

The  conchological  collection  is  very  exten- 
sive. There  are  a  number  of  duplicates  con- 
tained in  it  which  it  is  the  intention  of  the 
society  to  use  for  completing  the  collection 
by  exchanging  with  other  organizations  in  the 
same  field  of  research. 

Of  minerals  there  are  some  2000  specimens 
gathered  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
Perhaps  the  feature  of  greatest  local  interest 
and  value  in  this  collection  is  a  set  of  speci- 
mens of  coal  from  every  country  where  coal 
is  mined,  including  Japan  and  Greenland. 

Geology  is  represented  by  a  case  of  spec- 
imens ol  rocks  and  petrefactions  illustrating 
in  their  regular  ordei  all  the  varying  forma- 
tions composing  the  crust  of  the  earth,  be- 
ginning with  the  granite  or  back  bone  of  the 
vast  structure  and  finishing  with  those,  in 
which  the  first  traces  of  man  were  discovered. 

Palaeontology  treats  of  fossilferous  remains. 
In  conection  with  its  pursuit  of  this  branch 
of  the  natural  sciences,  the  society  has  ac- 
quired one  of  the  finest  collections  in  exis- 
tence, which  has  been  examined  and  classified 
by  Professor  Leo  Lesquereux,  the  greatest 
living  authority  on  the  subject.  In  its  pal 
aentological  researches  the  Wyoming  society 
has  been  of  marked  service  to  the  scientific 
world.  From  discoveries  made  at  Mill 
Creek  under  its  auspices,  Prof.  Leslie,  the 
State  geologist,  will  be  able  to  prove  in  his 
forthcoming  report  that  the  Permian  forma- 
tion does  exist  in  this  country,  a  fact  here- 
tofore disputed  and  resting  solely  upon  the 
discovery  of  certain  plants  supposed  to  be- 
long to  it  by  professors  White  and  Fontaine, 
of  the  second  geological  servey,  in  western 
Pennsylvania.  The  Wyoming  society's  labor- 
ers found,  and  procured  abundant  specimens 
of  the  lime-stone  and  sea  shells,  constituting 
evidence  beyond  the  range  of  dispute. 

The  botanical  collection  is  not  large,  though 
it  includes,  among  other  interesting  features, 
a  valuable   Herbarium,  the  result  of  the  stu- 


dies,  and  "finds,"  in  Germany,  about  100 
years  ago,  of  an  ancestor  of  our  artist-towns- 
man, Mr.  Eugene  C.  Frank. 

In  addtion  to  all  these  there  are  many  ar- 
ticles in  the  society's  stores,  which  cannot  be 
classified,  and  which  must  be  seen  to  be  un- 
derstood and  appreciated  at  the  full  of  their 
interest  and  value. 

The  library.     Many    people,    particularly 
editors,  are  inclined  to  belittle  the  value  of 
"Pub.  Docs.,"  by  which   is  meant  documents 
issued  free    from   the  government    printing 
office  and  treating  of  the  doings  of  the  gov- 
ernment.    It  is  true,  perhaps,  that  their  pos- 
session has  never  made  the  rural  scissors,  ma- 
nipulator a  Croesus,  no  mattter  how  atten- 
tive and  liberal  his  "member"  may  have  been 
in  providing  them.     It  is  doubtless  further  the 
tact  that  they  are  ordinarily  cast  aside  by 
their  recipients  to  find   their  way  ultimately 
back    to   the   paper  mill.     Nevertheless,   in 
complete  sets,  and  in  substantial  library  bind- 
ing, they  are,  for  the  purposes  of  a  historical 
society,    and  for  the  purpose  of  general  refer- 
ence, a  real  treasure;  and  so  the  Wyoming 
Society  regards  them.     In  1862,  through  the 
influence  of  Col.  Wright,    then  representing 
this  district    in  Congress,  the    society    was 
made  a  regular  depository  for  public  docu- 
ments, and  as  a  result  it  has  upon  its  shelves 
a  copy  of  every  work  issued  by  the  govern- 
ment from  the  beginning  of  1859  up  to  the 
present  day.  They  include  the  records  of  the 
doings    of  Congress,   of  the  Executive    de- 
partments and  of  our  armies  during  the  war, 
of  the  examinations  made  into  the  affairs  of 
the  late  insurrectionary  States,  of  numerous 
other  official  investigations  like,  for  instance, 
that  into  the  Chinese  question,  and  hundreds 
of  other  books  equally  valuable  and  indis- 
pensible  to  a  complete  historical  record .  The 
agricultural  reports  go    back  to   1847,    and 
lately  the  government  has  prepared  and  pub- 
lished in  a  separate  book,  a  general  index  to 
all  the  subjects  treated  in  them.     These  sub- 
jects cover  the  entire  range  of  agriculture, 
stock  raising,   &c.      Any  Luzerne    farmer, 
needing  information  of  any  kind  under  this 
head,  will   find  in  the  index  referred   to   a 
guide-board  to    that    which    he    seeks  and, 
almost  without  doubt,  on  the  same  shelf,  the 
information  itself.     The  patent  office  reports 
have  been  similarly  indexed  and  encourage- 
ment to  inventors  and  a  spur  to  invention 
thus  proyided.     Of  these  government  books 
there  are  some  1,200,  all  neatly  and  substan- 
tially bound,  as  I  have  said,  and  chronologi- 
cally arranged.     They  have  not  been  cata- 
logued as  yet,  but  shortly  will  be.     In   ad- 
dition, the  library  contains  some  2,000  other 
volumes,    mostly    scientific    and    historical 
works,  many  of  them  very  rare  and  of  a  pro- 
portinate  cash  and  literary  value.    Every  day 


some  new  additions  to  the  book-stock  are  be- 
ing made,  mostly  voluntary  contributions  or 
the  product  of  the  exchange  of  duplicates. 

It  is  astonishing  that  the  facts  1  have  thus 
briefly  and   imperfectly  set  forth,  especially 
those  having  reference   to    the    remarkably 
valuable   and  interesting    specimens    of  the 
Historical     Society,     have    heretofore    been 
known  to  so  few  of  our  citizens.     I  venture 
to  say  that  not  more  than  one  in  five  has  ever 
even  heard  of  the  existence  of  the  society, 
while  not  one  in  twenty  has  paid  its  rooms  a 
visit  or  in  any  other  way  learned  aught  con- 
cerning the  numerous  treasures  it  so  sedulous 
ly  gathers    and  jealously   guards.     Here    is 
something  more  than  a  nucleus,  about  which 
could  be  collected,  in  a  very  little  time  and  at 
comparatively  trifling  expense,  a  vast  museum 
of  historical  mementosand  objects  in  natural 
science,  and  a  library  second  only  to  the  best 
in  the  State  or  nation,  which  together  would 
prove  an  incalculably  valuable  school  of  in- 
struction for  our  people,  old  and  young.  The 
society's  greatest  present  need  is  a  separate 
fire-proof     building .       This    secured,     con- 
tributions would  pour  in  speedily  and  lavishly, 
and  a  careful    and    spirited  management,  by 
economical  purchase   and   exchange,  would 
not  be  long  in  achieving  even  more  than  the 
most  sanguine  have  hoped  for.     I  heard  two 
gentlemen  recently  discussing  the  possibilities 
of  the  society,  could  the  fire-proof  building 
be  secured.     One  of  them   said   that,  in  the 
event  of  the  acquirement  of  such  a  structure, 
he  wouid  individually  add  one  thousand  vol- 
umes to  the  library,  and  the  second  pledged 
himself  for  a  donation  of  five  hundred  more. 
From  10,000   to  20,000  books  could  without 
doubt  be  ultimately  secured,  with  practically 
little  outlay  in  cash,  while  the  present  aggre- 
gate of  the  society's  other  valuables  would  be 
many  times  multiplied.     Secured  against  the 
possibility    of  their    loss    by    fire,  hundreds 
would    give  rare  books   and    other    articles 
that,  without  such  assurance,  thty  will  choose 
to  themselves  take  the  risk  of  preserving. 

Who  will  suggest  a  plan  whereby  the 
monev  necessarVto  rear  a  fire  proof  build- 
ing can  be  raised  ?  But  a  few  thousand  dol- 
lars would  be  required,  and  all  classes,  I  take 
it,  are  or  ought  to  be  interested— the  rich,  be- 
cause in  no  other  way  can  they  so  cheaply 
provide  nutritious  food  for  the  minds  of  the 
poor,  (and  their  minds  should  be  as  much  and 
as  constantly  an  object  of  solicitude  in  a 
country  where  all  men  are  politically  equal, 
as  their  stomachs;)  the  poor,  because  the  val- 
ue of  a  good  library,  open  without  cost  to 
them  and  to  their  children,  cannot  be  meas- 
ured in  dollars  and  cents,  and  because  the 
Wyoming  Historical  and  Geological  society 
offers  the  likeliest,  perhaps  the  only  probabil- 
ity of  the  establishment  of  such  a  library  in 
our  city. 


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WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
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OVERDUE. 

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